Current-collector for the third rail of electric railways.



PATENTED MAR. 10, 1908.

. J. G. BAUKAT; CURRENT GOLLEGTOR 'FOR THE THIRD RAIL 0F ELECTRIC RAILWAYS.

APPLIOATIOH FILED AUG M, 1907.

F L9: 2. I

- Be-it known thatl, JOHN JOHN G. BAUKAT, or WHITE PLAINSJNEW YORK.

.cunnnnr-corinncron ronrnze 'rn RAIL or ELECTRIC Runways-f Specificationoi Letters Patent. Patented March 10, 1908.

' hpplication flled llugustfze,1967. Serial No. 389,946.

To all whom'it concerm, v v G. BAUKA-T, a citizen of the: United States, residing at White Plains, county'of Westchester, and State of New York, "have invented-an Imrovement .in Current-Collectors for the bird-Rail of Electric Railways, of which the following is a s ecification. l

- -Heretofore t e breakage of contact shoes ting ina new shoe in place thereof, has been a considerable item,'and the object of my in;

'vention is' to overcome these objections and rail.

at the same timeto provide a desirable ad justment of the shoe with reference tothe In ca 'n out'm .invention, I rovide a shoe and sllio 'brack t in connected eparable parts, the -.outer..shoepart of, cast metal adapted to be broken-upon accidental contact with an unyielding obstruction, and when so broken, a new art can be attached in a few. minutes, even by an inexperienced em loyee and by means of a simple wrench.

n the device of my improvement and in combination with the shoe beam' of a car truck and a hanger of usual construction, I provide a shoe bracket pivotally mounted in the hanger and s ring controlled and a removable breakab 'e shoe connected-thereto 'in an adjustable relation,

The shoe roper has integral parts at substantially rig t .an-

gles to one another, the one part for attachment to-the bracket and the other for contact with the third rail and at-the angle I provide a slot in the web connecting these arts so that while the web is strong enoug for constant unobstructed service, yet it is the weakest part and'willbreak uponthe shoe striking an unyieldingobstruction, the re-- maining part beingqui'ckly removed for the attachment to the shoe bracket of a complete new shoe. 1 j r In the drawing, Figure 1 is. a perspective view of the device of my improvement, to-

, getherwith a third rail of-ordmary'construc tion. Figs. 2 and 3"are vertical-cross sectrons at about the center of .Fig. 1, Fig 2-.

illustrating an underhun [third rail, with a shoe. of a form adapted t ereto and a spring control therefor, and Fig. 3 showin the form of third rail and the'shoe shown in ig. 1 with, a spring control suitable therefor.

5 a represents the shoe beam of a truckof an electric railway car of ordinary construction and b a shoe hanger connected thereto and suspended therefrom by the bolts 2. This" 6() shoe hanger has an overturned upper edge for supporting and steadying the same. The lower edge of the shoe hanger b-is preferably cut away so as to leave. lug ends and is per foratedior the pivot pin 3 assed longitudie.

nally throu' h said lugs. T e shoe bracket- 0 is of a width adapted to be received between the said lugs and 1s perforated for the passage,

of the pivot'pin 3em1r1 loyedin connecting the shoe bracket to the s cc hanger and this shoe-"i0 bracket is provided with a vertically, ser-f rated face 0 substantially at right angles to the lower face of the bracketand'which ser rated face would normally occu y a plane substantially parallel with the p ane ofthe inner surface of the shoe hanger.

In Fig. 2 l'haveshown the shoe hanger b as provided with alug I) having a projection 11 from the under surface and the shoe'bracket c with a lug c with a projection from its upso per surface and a spring4 between the lugs b and 0 held in position by said projections. These lugs. and the springs between'them may advantageously come at about the cen 'tral portion ofthe shoe bracket, the spring a5 being .under compression is employed for lifting the shoe, while in Fig. 3 a similar spring 4 is employedfor" pressing down the 506-: 3 The shoe dis '(inFigs. 1 and-31 shown in concave form on the upper side and convex 1 on the. lower side, while in Fig. 2' this form is reversed. shoe is shown with an integral shoe-arm d substantially atright angles thereto; this shoe-arm has an outer serrated surface adapted to mesh and interlock with the serrated face a of the shoe bracket andin this shoe arm there are vertically disposed parallel slots 6 and bolts 5, which pass 1 shoe bracket, extending through' the slots 6 Iwithm ts and washers to bear against the outer surfaceofthe shoe-arm in clamping the shoe-arm to the vertical portion of the shoe bracket in an adjustable relation controlled by thelength of the slots 6, said-adjustable. relationbefiig substantially equally divided iBn height and depth in the full line position,

* The shoved, for liberal contact with either the third rail 0 or the third rail f,..is' wider than the shoe arm (1' and the intersection of the substantially horizontal shoe (1 and its vertical shoe arm d is provided with a slot 7, so that there are only two webs of metal which connect the shoe (1 to the shoe arm d; 5' andwhile these webs are of sufficient strengtt for all ordinary posely so as to break through on the line of the slot? should the shoe in service come into accidental contact with breakthrough the webs in the line of the slot 7, and without damaging any of the other parts of the structure, will fall away, leaving the shoe arm d in place. It then becomes a very simple matter to unscrew the nuts of the bolts 5, take off the shoe arm (1 and put another complete new' cast metal shoe and shoe-arm in position and thenreplace the nuts and washer s In the drawing, Fig. 2 shows the application of my improvement to an underhung third rail Where the expansive force ofthe spring 4 is employed to keep the convex upper surface of the shoe d in contact with the third rail f. In Fig. 3, the shoe hanger b is provided with a lug b and 2. depending projection, and the shoe bracket 0 with a fiat surface and projection, the spring 4 surrounding the projection and extending between the upper surface of the shoe bracket 0 and the under surface of the lug I) and exerting by its expansive force, a downward pressure of the under convex surface of the shoe against the third rail 6.

Except forthe reversed form of the shoe d in Figs. 2 and 3, and for the local application of the expansive spring 4, the parts. illustrated in the drawing, are identical and form the subject matter of my invention, referring re particularly to the shoe member.

I claim as my invention: w

I 1. In a current collector for the third rail of electric railways, a bracket, a part for at- I tachment to the bracket and an integral part at right angles thereto for contact with the third rail, the portion at the intersection of said parts being apertured to leave connecting webs which are breakable when the shoe comes in accidental contact with an un yielding obstruction.

' 2. In a current collectorforthe third rail of electric railways, a bracket, a part for adjustable attachment to the bracket and an integral part at right angles thereto for contact with the third rail, the portion at the intersection. of said parts being apertured to leave connecting webs which are breakable when the shoe comes in accidental contact with an unyielding obstruction.

3. The combination with the shoe beam of a truck and a shoe hanger connected thereto, of a shoe bracket pivotally connected at the lower end of the shoe hanger and having a substantially vertical serrated outer face and service, they are made puran unyielding 10 obstruction, at which time the shoe will contact with an unyielding 0 esteem.

an integral shoe and shoe arm, the shoe arm having a serrated face to contact with the serrated face of the shoe bracket and means for connectin the shoe and its arm in an adjustable relation with the bracket.

4. The combination with the shoe beam of a truck and a shoe hanger connected thereto, of a shoe bracket pivotally connected at the lower end of the shoe hanger and havinga substantially vertical serrated outer face and an integral shoe and shoe-arm, the shoe arm having a serrated face to contact with the serrated face of the shoe bracket, means for connecting the shoe and its arm in an adjustable relation with the bracket, and a spring device for moving the shoe towards the third rail so as to maintain contact between the parts.

5. The combination with the shoe beam of the truck of an electric car, of a shoe hanger and means for connecting the same together, said shoe hanger being cut away at its lower edge so as to roduce side lugs, a pin passing through said ugs, a shoe bracket tting between the lugs and apertured for said pivot pin, said shoe bracket having a rising portion and a substantially vertical serrated face, a shoe and integral shoe arm of cast metal, having slots, a serrated face to the shoe arm having an adjustable relation with the serrated face of the shoe bracket, and bolts passing through the vertical portion of the shoe bracket and through said slots in the shoe arm-'for connecting the parts together.

4 6. 'The combination with the shoe beam of the truck of an electric car, of a shoe hanger and means for connecting the same together, said shoe hanger being cut away at its lower edge so as to produce side lugs, a pin passing through said lugs, a shoe bracket fitting between the lugs and apertured for said pivot pin, said shoe bracket having a rising portion and a substantiall vertical serratedface, a

shoe and integral s we arm of cast metal having slots, a serrated face to the shoe arm having an adjustable relation with the serrated face of the shoe bracket, bolts assing through the vertical portion of the slioe bracket and through said slots in the shoe arm for connecting the parts together, the shoe and shoe arm being at substantially right angles to one another and having a slotted connectin web' so that the shoe may be broken throu ii the web in the line of the slot u on accidental listruction and without injury to the other parts of the shoe device.

, Signed by me this 20th day of August,1907.

JOHN G. TBAUKAT. 

